Flowers We Are
by The Quiet Place
Summary: Better to go, she thought, better to turn away, before her onee-sama could fix her with that piercing grey gaze and see through to the dark flower blooming inside her: Desire. Shimako x Noriko


**Flowers We Are**

Noriko stood behind her, watching her onee-sama with her hands in the dirt, and was struck with the thought that even knelt on the ground, hair bound in sloppy ponytail, there was still something about her that was as quietly imposing and inviolable as the stone statue of Maria-sama she bent her head to everyday.

Shimako reached for the trowel lying next to her, then paused.

She held her breath.

"…Noriko?"

The girl chuckled. "How did you know it was me?"

"Who knows…"

That was her onee-sama. A reply that wasn't a reply. Noriko unfolded her hands from behind her back and carefully tucked her skirt beneath her knees as she crouched beside her.

Shimako dug into the soft earth of the flowerbed. She shook the trowel, then looked sideways and gave her companion a small smile.

"Is something the matter, Noriko-chan?"

_Oops_. Noriko immediately started to feel flustered.

"Well no, not really, I…um…I was just passing and I saw you here, so I thought I'd come over…there's nothing in particular the _matter_…"

Then she noticed her onee-sama was chuckling.

"_Onee-sama_." She protested.

"I'm sorry. But you don't have to explain yourself to me, you know. It's enough that you just felt like it."

"Yeah…"

"Although, now you're here, would you mind passing me that plant?"

There was a flower in a pot sat next to a few other recently planted ones. Noriko picked it up and passed it to her.

"Thanks."

They sat in silence for a while. Shimako frowned, but not in displeasure; it was more like the look of someone deep in thought. A few strands of hair fell into her face, but she didn't move them.

_I wonder if she knows she looks like this_, thought Noriko. _She's sat with dirt under her nails and a trowel in her hand and with her hair coming loose, a schoolgirl on a normal day…and she looks like she could be a saint. _

_Stop that_.

Noriko felt herself flush slightly and looked away, filled with the sudden worry that her onee-sama would turn or glance that way by chance and see the strange things going through her mind, reflected darkly in her eyes.

The flowers were lined up in rows, as straight as if she'd laid down a ruler and planted them directly along its edge.

"I wonder…." Shimako breathed.

"Y-yes?"

She was still staring into the dirt, holding the small pot in cupped hands and not moving to put it down.

"It's odd….I can't remember the last time you called me 'Shimako-san'."

_Shimako….san?_

_When _was_ the last time I called her that? _

"Oh." She stammered. "B-but I thought—Sachiko-sama said—"

Shimako's gaze shifted, looking into the bright centre of the delicate flower, and there was a long moment when Noriko felt something—she didn't quite know what—move inside her chest and cut her voice off.

"Yes, she did, didn't she. Well, I suppose she had to, really."

She set the pot down and freed the earth around the edges with her trowel.

"Does it bother you?" Noriko blurted.

Shimako set the implement down and then without hesitation reached and buried her hands in the soft earth, lifting the plant out of its bed. A few more strands of hair fell in her face. They hid her eyes.

She said nothing.

Noriko looked away and something caught her eye: a small line in the earth, a fingertip wide, running between the flowers that she'd planted. Ruler-straight.

And the sight of it brought back that unknown feeling in her chest, a knot, tightening until it was almost painful.

_A saint._

_Stop it. _

"Sorry," she mumbled, and moved to get to her feet, because while she didn't know what she was feeling, she was sure of one thing, and that was that she wasn't meant to be feeling it. Especially not about her onee-sama, especially not about the quietly imposing, inviolable Shimako-sama, the school girl, the saint, her beautiful and heart-rending Shimako-_san_.

Better to go, better to turn away, before her onee-sama could fix her with that piercing grey gaze and see through to the dark flower blooming inside her: Desire.

"Noriko."

"I…should go, Shi—onee-sama. I'm probably bothering you, aren't I?"

She laughed, or tried to. It couldn't have fooled either of them.

"No, Noriko."

Shimako looked up, brushed the stray curls of hair aside, and there was something in her voice that fixed the younger girl helplessly to the ground.

"You never bother me, you know."

"…really?"

There was still something telling her to leave, get out of there, but another part of her had noticed the twitch in Shimako's lips and the lift of her brows, and made it impossible for her to go.

"Really."

_I wonder_…

Then she smiled self-deprecatingly and the weight seemed to lift from Noriko's shoulders.

"Of course, if you want to go—"

"No! I mean, not really…"

Noriko knelt back down quickly, hoping she wasn't blushing as hard as she felt like she was. She looked at the floor as Shimako neatly deposited the flower in the hole she'd made and smoothed it over with the back of her trowel. The frown had lifted. Noriko risked a sideways glance and to her surprise, caught her smiling.

"There we go." She murmured.

"Onee-sama—"

"Yes?"

Noriko felt the words she'd wanted to say dry up in her mouth, faced with that smile, and just said the first thing that came into her head.

"You really love gardening, don't you?"

Shimako's expression flickered and for a moment she worried she'd said the wrong thing.

Then her face softened, and she did something unexpected; she leaned forwards, and tucked a stray hair behind Noriko's ear.

"Yes," She murmured, "I really do."

Noriko swallowed, and felt a smile of her own break out across her face, not quite knowing why; but the knot in her chest had dissolved, leaving something soft and warm behind.

* * *

"What do you think?"

"I think it looks lovely."

They stood surveying the bed. It was very quiet; they were in a part of the school that was a fair distance from the classrooms. The gardening club had accordingly decided to appropriate it, and the bed was one of several.

Noriko glanced at her watch.

"It's getting late."

"Mm. Well, I think we're finished anyway. Shall we go?"

She nodded, but for some reason, neither of them moved.

"Noriko?"

_It's alright._

"I'm glad that I don't bother you…"

_Go on. _

"…Shimako-san."

A gentle breeze blew around them. She found herself looking at her feet, hands clasped behind her back.

Then she felt a gentle weight on her shoulder, and turned, heart jumping into her mouth, to see Shimako's eyes slide shut as she leaned against her.

It was unbelievable, and it felt _good_.

"I'm glad you came." She said, her soft voice so close to Noriko's ear that she shivered.

"I wanted to see you." Noriko admitted.

The weight on her shoulder shifted and she felt Shimako's arm rest loosely around her middle. She found that she didn't really care about the dirt on her hands, getting her uniform mucky. She didn't really care about very much at all in that moment.

"It's strange…I really do love gardening…so I wonder…"

Noriko hoped the older girl couldn't hear her heart hammering. She needn't have worried; Shimako seemed to have slipped into some sort of trance, the expression on her face dreamlike, almost serene.

"I wonder why….being here like this makes me feel the same way?"

_Oh, Shimako_….

Her arms seemed to wrap themselves of their own accord around the soft body of her onee-sama, and Noriko found her spirit soaring, her heart giving a tug that was at once painful and something very much like bliss as the older girl leaned closer.

"Shimako-san."

Her eyelashes quivered and she looked up at her, those grey eyes looking her through, and Noriko found she couldn't bear it.

Feeling her heart pound crazily, she murmured, "…I feel the same way."

A smile bloomed on that pale, perfect face, a real, angelic smile.

"I know," She said, and closed her eyes again.

"_I know_."

_Author's note: Well, thanks for reading. I don't own Marimite: if I did, there'd be a lot more Shimako in it. And Noriko. And flowers. Hell, there'd be yuri love all over the damn thing. You know what I'm talkin' about ;) _

_Reviews greatly appreciated, as always. Also, thanks to the people that already reviewed, I took your suggestions on board and reformatted the thing, hopefully it's easier to read now. Watch this space for more! _


End file.
